They're not coming back
by XxiheartmaxridexX
Summary: Ari. A useless 3 year old at the school, following his Dad and idolising the bird kids. But then he gets left behind and realises his own Father loves Max more than anything - more than him.


I walked around feeling useless. I tugged on Dad's trouser leg but he ignored me and bustled off.

Now that mom was dead, I was to come to the school with him all the time. It was boring, I didn't want to look at plain, old sciencey equipment. I sighed and Dad seemed to notice me for the first time. He sighed and bent down so his face was level with mine.

"Ari, you're going to have to be patient, I still have the rest of the afternoon that I have to be here." I wasn't really interested in what he was saying for another thing had caught my attention. There was a loud screaming noise coming from the other room and I desparately wanted to know what it was. But then Dad held my face in his wide hands and recaptured my attention.

"So just hang on in there, okay, little buddy."

Then a shrill, woman's voice sounded through the big, white room and Dad's head suddenly snapped up.

"Jeb Batcheldor, you're needed in room 206" came the high-pitched voice.

And jeb suddenly got up with sigh and ruffled my hair. He turned to the woman and asked in tired voice "_She's_ not co-operating again?"

The woman rolled her eyes and said "is it likely that she _would_?" and with that they both walked off leaving me there, confused, for I had no idea half of the time what they were talking about. I didn't know who this "she" was, and curiousity got the better of me so I walked out after them.

I could remember that they had said "Room 206". but I couldn't read yet. There were strange squiggles on a yellow board hanging up on a very big door. I didn't know if this was the right room but I tried it anyway. At first I couldn't get the door open but then I pushed with all my might and it fell open with a bang. Nobody in the room noticed that there was now a small, three-year-old intruder. Moi. Or, even if they did, they didn't seem to care. But I was just fine with that. I was exploring!

I spotted Dad at the back but I didn't really pay attention to him. I was too busy taking in all my new surroundings. I'd never been in this room before. It was another big, white room, but it was so much bigger. It stretched out for a very long way. There were signs every now and then on the wall with more strange squiggles on them and there were many different parts of the room; there was a walled off section and a glass box and many strange peices of metal which I guess was what Dad always called 'Valuble scientific research equipment' when he told me not to touch things. But what really made my eyes widen were the numerous cages all lined up against the far wall and the left hand side of the room. There were so many and I wished that I knew what was inside them. It was times like this that I wished I wasn't a child anymore, that I wasn't three years old, following my dad around – not being able to understand because I couldn't read or count, always being in the way. I was very mature for my age because I had been forced to be, by my lack of a mother figure, and I guess I was cleverer than most average three year olds – but having a scientist for a Dad helped.

I walked forward, peering into the cages. No one was looking at me, they were to busy hovering over one cage at the back, which I soon realised was where the screaming was coming from.

One of the cages had a very horrible smell and I sped up when I came across it, wrinkling my small nose as I went. I looked into another of the cages and there was a small child, maybe a bit younger than me, peering up at me; she was blonde and blue-eyed. Pretty. I smiled at her and she smiled back. I wondered what she was doing in a cage.

And in the next few cages I passed there were also children sqatting in them. One with the same blonde hair and blue eyes as the other one, then there was another small girl with dark skin and big brown eyes; she looked about 7, and then there was a tall boy, he looked much older and he was blind, he had pale strawberry-blonde hair and his eyes, although sightless, were a milky-blue. Then I came to the second to last cage, nearest the crowd and I peered in. I was greeted by a loud snarl. And in the cage I saw an older boy, he had strong arms and a fiece expression on his face. All the strange children in these cages were beautiful. But they all looked so sad and I got the feeling they didn't want to be here – but I didn't know why.

Suddenly I heard a cry coming from the crowd and I disengaged my eyes from the harsh look of the boy. A scientist – one of Dad's friends – was kneeling down and cursing, holding his hand in front of him, it was dripping with blood. The screaming was replaced by angry shouting, a child's voice. I walked up, still no one noticed me, and I peered in the cage. There was a girl in there. She was beautiful. She had blonde hair and brown eyes and she looked about the same age as the older boy and the taller boy. She looked at me and then looking bored, hit out at some of the scirentists.

I stared at her. She was so strong and brave looking. I wouldn't have dared hit and shout at these men. I remembered the time when I had touched the fire alarm and it had set it off. I had gotten shouted at alot then by Dad's boss. I had cried. She didn't cry now though she had cuts and bruises decorating her light skin on her arms and bare legs. And then suddenly she whipped out beautiful wings and I gasped audibly. It was the most amazing sight I had ever seen, and I thought at first she was an angel. I thought maybe she was someone who had died. And I began to hope that I would see Mom there, with beautiful wings. But I wanted to see her free, not in a cage, and flying ands soaring around. And I wanted Dad to be an angel too and me. so that I could see Mom again. And so I could fly with the beautiful, mysterious girl. I wanted to be like her.

Dad suddenly noticed me and he knelt down and asked me if I was okay. I nodded, again not really listening to him, I was too busy gazing at the beautiful creature that half-crouched in a cage and glared around her. She saw jeb holding my hand and she glared at me. It made me very scared and I shrunk behing Dad's back. He picked me up and kissed my forehead. He begun to walk off but before he did, he glanced back over his shoulder and said very quietly, so no one but me and the girl could hear "I'm sorry Max, I know how much it hurts being here and I'm sorry but I will get you out of here one day and I love you more than anything"

_I love you more than anything. I love you more than anything._ Does that mean that he loved this strange and fierce creature more than me?

For the first time, I felt a thing called jealousy. And it hurts. And I couldn't help myself glaring back at the girl over jeb's shoulder.

_I love you more than anything._

For the next weeks that followed I sat with the girl, Max was her name. She was really very beautiful. I liked her. I remembered that night when I'd asked Dad about her and the other children. He'd told me that they were experiments with bird DNA in them. I didn't know what DNA was but I pictured this girl with a little bluebird next to her. She was far more beautiful. They all were.

I'd tried talking to her but she just turned her head away, ignoring me, all the 'experiments' did and I wondered what I had done wrong. The girl always looked angry. Except when looking at Dad. Or 'Jeb', as she called him. Her eyes softened when she looked at him and the first time I ever saw her smile was when dad was bending down next to her and tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. But the first time she ever spoke to me was when Dad _wasn't_ there. I remembered it clearly, Dad had just let go of my hand and had rushed off telling me to stay there. I'd been more than happy to just sit there watching this girl's eyes follow dad out of the room. I remembered how I'd jumped when her big, brown eyes, so alike mine, snapped back to my face and she spoke to me, her voice loud and clear.

"You're jeb's real _son _aren't you?" She'd said. And I had nodded slowly.

then I whispered. "My name's Ari." And she went " Yeah, I know. I'm Max" and with that she turned her beautiful face away from me and she hadn't spoken another word to me since. I asked jeb why she ignored me and why she looked so angry and he'd replied "Well, you see, she didn't choose to have this fate, she doesn't like it here, well actually she hates it. And the thing is she wishes she was human, like you, and she wishes she could have a mother or a father, like you. So she would like to be like you. In a way, she's jealous of you, Ari"

I hadn't expected that. And still it made no sense to me, how someone so amazing and beautiful like Max could want to be someone so boring and normal like me. It just made no sense. I wished I could be her and she wished she could be me. But we both wished that our lives were different.

My days as a three year old carried on like this, me always going to see max and watching her for hours, never getting bored although she ignored me. She never spoke to me again. though i wished she would and sometimes I almost started coversation, but I was too afraid to. I desperately wanted to ask if she had seen my Mom, seeing as she was an angel. But when I asked Dad if I should ask Max, he shook his head and gave me a very sad smile. He missed Mom. So did I. And a small tear swelled in my eye and rolled down my cheek slowly.

But then one day I saw Dad standing by the cage and I heard them talking. He unlatched the bolt and I hid behind another cage. I still couldn't hear properly but words and phrases drifted back to me.

_We will.....out.....so__rry......mind.....no......like I said...yes, I did......wil_

_l_

It didn't make any sense and I tried listening harder. I heard another bolt sliding across metal and I poked my head around the side of the cage. Dad and Max were opening all of the cages and letting the strange angel children out. They were looking awed and they al had the same soft look in their eyes. I wondered what was happening and where they were going. But most importantly, _why?_

And why was Dad glancing around guiltily and speaking in a hushed tone to Max and the other chikdren, who's name's I didn't know. I watched them run, wordlessly and I watched them open the door wide and I watched them leave the building and break into a sprint when the alarm blared out like screams. I watched the leave. Without me.

I sat there all day, crouched in a corner. Crying. Alone. No one found me. No one knew I was missing. I just sat there, gently rocking back anf forth, waiting, just waiting for Dad and beautiful Max to come back. I waited all night. Desparately trying to keep my eyes open.

They didn't come back.

And in the morning I was found. I didn't recognise the face, but he grabbed me roughly and I was led away into another room. Then I was strapped down to a big, white bed. By then I was screaming and crying and thrashing around. But of course it did no good. And eventually the man turned on me and advanced towards the bed with a needle in one hand. I protested, loudly, but he percevered and I felt a stab of pain in my left arm and then my head swam. Then it went black. I couldn't scream any longer.

I woke up. And I was in a cage. I pushed with all my might against the door but it was to no avail. I was trapped. I looked in front of me, my vision limited by the the thick metal bars, and saw 6 cages that belonged to the strange children. 6 cages that were now empty. The tears started again and my cries echoes strangley around the big white room, whhich meant I was alone. There was an awful smell again, and I realised it was the smell of death.

Still Dad didn't return. I soon realised that he wasn't coming back. Ever.

_I love you more than anything else_ his words resounded in my head, over and over and I felt sick. He had chosen Max and the others over me. Now jealousy raged through me stronger than ever and I knew now that I was the only one feeling this way. For Max couldn't possibly be jealous of me now, for she had got what she wanted, a father.

So now I was completely alone. Like she had been, wiht no father or mother. Mother. Mom. I missed her. I wondered if I would ever see her. Maybe I was an Angel. I glanced behind me and I ran my fingers lightly over my back, but I could feel no wings. I felt a lump begin to form in my throat and I rubbed my hands up and down my back willing there to be wings, as beautiful as Max's. But there were no wings. Which meant I wasn't an angel. And I could never see Mom again.

Or Dad.

For Dad loved Max more than anything else. More than me.


End file.
